The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for vehicle policy management and enforcement. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for creating, managing, evaluating, and/or enforcing policies in connection with vehicles and other systems.
Driving while distracted is one of the largest contributors to accidents, injury and death on roadways today. One of the contributing factors to driving while distracted is the use of mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, etc.) while operating a vehicle. According to the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Board, in 2009 alone, nearly 5,500 people were killed and 450,000 more were injured in vehicle crashes in the U.S. caused by distracted driving. Further, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, text messaging on a mobile device while driving increases the risk of a crash by nearly 23 times over driving while not distracted.
Sending or receiving a text message on a mobile device may take a driver's eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent—at 55 miles per hour—of driving the length of an entire football field blind. Distracted driving in many instances is particularly concentrated within the younger age segment of the population—especially teens. Distracted driving is also an issue in other contexts, including in the operation of public transit vehicles (e.g., busses, trains, airplanes, etc.). With the widespread proliferation of mobile devices, distracted driving is a growing problem. Accordingly, systems and methods that reduce distracted driving, protect others from distracted driving, and/or otherwise enhance vehicle safety or control are desirable.
Embodiments of the systems and methods disclosed herein relate to creating, managing, evaluating, and/or enforcing policies in connection with vehicles and other systems to enhance vehicle safety and/or control (e.g., by reducing distracted driving). In certain embodiments, a method for enforcing a policy on a device associated with a vehicle (e.g., a mobile phone) may include receiving policy information at the device including one or more conditions relating to a policy-managed location in the vehicle (e.g., a driver's seat location). The policy information may further include one or more exceptions associated with the one or more conditions.
A determination may be made whether the device is within the policy-managed location based on signals received by a short-range communication system included in the device and/or the vehicle. The received policy information may be evaluated to determine and implement one or more device actions associated with the one or more conditions. Device actions may include, without limitation, disabling a feature or application of the device, changing an operating mode of the device, and/or the like. In certain embodiments, the policy information may further be evaluated based on sensor information received from one or more sensors included in the device and/or contextual information received from the vehicle.
In further embodiments, a method for enforcing a policy on a vehicle and/or a system included in the vehicle may include receiving policy information including one or more conditions relating to a policy-managed location in the vehicle (e.g., a driver's seat location) at a policy management system included in the vehicle. The policy information may further include one or more exceptions associated with the one or more conditions.
A determination may be made whether a device (e.g., a mobile phone) is within the policy-managed location based on signals received by a short-range communication system included in the device and/or the vehicle. The received policy information may be evaluated to determine and implement one or more vehicle actions associated with the one or more conditions. Vehicle actions may include, without limitation, disabling a feature of the vehicle, storing event information relating to the presence of the device within the policy-managed location, providing one or more notifications (e.g., audible or visual), and/or the like. In certain embodiments, the policy information may further be evaluated based on sensor information received from one or more sensors included in the vehicle and/or contextual information received from the device.